Fire pour it on New York, clinch home field

Chicago earns advantage for first round vs. New England

Chris Rolfe scored a hat trick in the first half to lead Chicago to a 5-2 win over New York. (B. Kersey/Getty Images)

Fire forward Chris Rolfe scored three first-half goals and set up two others on the night as the Fire went on to record a 5-2 win against the visiting New York Red Bulls in the regular season finale for both teams at Toyota Park.

With the win, the Fire (13-10-7, 46 points) clinched home-field advantage against the New England Revolution in their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series. That means the Fire will play at home in the second leg of the two-game, aggregate goals series.

The Red Bulls (10-11-9, 39 points) could have clinched a wild card playoff spot with a win. Instead, they have to wait on the result of the D.C. United-Columbus Crew game on Sunday afternoon to find out their playoff fate. If United wins, the Red Bulls will miss out on the postseason; if United ties or loses, the Red Bulls will face Western Conference top seed Houston Dynamo in the first round. The Kansas City Wizards clinched a playoff spot with the Red Bulls loss.

The Red Bulls finished the regular season with a 1-8-6 road record.

The Fire's five goals was the most they scored since beating the Red Bulls 5-1 on May 25 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

The Fire took an early lead on their first real attack on goal. Rookie midfielder Stephen King, getting a start with the absence of injured midfielder John Thorrington, ran on to a perfectly timed through ball from Justin Mapp in the penalty area to the right of the goal. King rounded goalkeeper Danny Cepero and then sent a low cross through two defenders to Rolfe, who headed it home into an unguarded net.

The Red Bulls tied the score in the 32nd minute when Dave van den Bergh dribbled past a Fire defender down the left side, then sent a ball to the right side eight yards out to Juan Pablo Angel, whose header bounced just in front of the goal line then past Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch.

In the 38th minute, the Fire scored eventually off a corner kick by Cuauhtemoc Blanco. The kick initially bounced off a Red bull defender standing directly in front of Blanco, but it bounced into the penalty area. The ball was partially cleared, but only to the top of the arc, where Rolfe chested down the ball, then looped a one-time, instep volley into the upper left corner for a 2-1 lead.

Just before halftime, the Fire took a 3-1 lead on Rolfe's third goal. Fire striker Brian McBride and New York's Seth Stammler challenged for a long Busch clearance, the ball continuing on to the foot of Blanco. He sent a heel pass to Rolfe streaking in between two Red Bull defenders. Cepero came out to challenge Rolfe, but the Fire forward slotted the ball coolly inside the left post to complete his hat trick.

Rolfe became the fifth player in Fire history to record a hat trick, and the 33-minute span was the second-quickest in club history, after the 23 minutes Ante Razov took to complete a hat trick on May 6, 2000.

New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio, the former Fire coach, sent forward Macoumba Kandji into the game at halftime for Seth Stammler, and replaced Juan Pietravallo with defender Luke Sassano.

Rolfe started the Fire's fourth goal when he sent a through ball from midfield to Fire defender Diego Gutierrez streaking down the left side. Gutierrez, who was feted at halftime for his long service with the Fire, sent another long rolling cross past two Red Bulls to McBride streaking in from the far right side, who had an easy tap-in for the goal.

Gutierrez, who was playing in place of suspended defender Gonzalo Segares, has announced his retirement at the end of this season.

In the 71st minute, the Red Bulls finally had a scoring chance when Fire defender Wilman Conde slipped as the ball went through his legs and Dane Richards, who had come on for Jorge Rojas six minutes earlier, headed directly toward Busch from the right side. Richards shot went off Busch's head and out.

Fire coach Denis Hamlett made his first substitution in the 74th minute, sending defender Daniel Woolard into the game for midfielder Justin Mapp.

The Fire scored their fifth goal in the 75th minute and Rolfe earned his second assist of the game. The ball was tackled from Woolard in the midfield, but went straight to Rolfe on the right flank. Rolfe curled a cross back in front of goal were Woolard dove in to head it into the back of the net.

Kandji rounded out the scoring in the 88th minute for the Red Bulls, knocking home a Richards pass for his first MLS goal.

Kent McDill is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.

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